This is an uphill climb, but not insurmoutable when compared to how bad this team has been, and for how long.

Starting with the 2000-01 season, the Falcons have been in the playoffs once (2002-03), when they lasted two rounds.

From 2003-04 through last year, they won 190 out of 560 games. That's awful, and don't forget, overtime wins count.

They won 24 games in 2008-09, and 25 last year, when they made a serious run at the all-time American Hockey League losing streak.

Springfield's divisional finishes in those years went as follows: seventh, seventh, sixth, seventh, fifth (when they won 35 games and nearly made the playoffs), seventh and eighth.

So, when people tell me there is no hockey interest left in Springfield, I say, "How do we know?''

Entering Saturday, the Falcons were 23-24-4 after 50 games. Making the 2011 playoffs is not as simple as finishing fourth in the Atlantic Division, where Connecticut led fifth-place Springfield by seven points.

If five teams from the Eastern Conference's East Division finish with better records than the fourth-place team in the Atlantic, those five East Division teams make it and the No. 4 Atlantic team is out.

Springfield fans are so accustomed to seeing their team out of the playoff race by early January that I wonder how many even realize they have a chance.

They are at Manchester Sunday, one of only two road games in a 10-game stretch that began Friday night. One of Springfield's biggest problems has been its inability to play well at home, which bit them again Friday.

Logic still says a heavy schedule of home games, many against teams battling the Falcons for playoff spots, should be an advantage.

Making the playoffs would provide a crucial shot in the arm for this franchise. Coming on the heels of the team's purchase by a new owner, Charles Pompea, it would also signify a successful first run by the parent Columbus Blue Jackets.

And even though first-round playoff games don't stimulate the populace in most AHL markets, the sheer novelty of the experience might perk up some interest here.

The question of how much the on-ice performance has affected interest has taken on a chicken-vs.-egg quality in Springfield. My own view is that winning alone does not drive minor league attendance, nor does losing, but you can't be terrible year after year.without feeling the effect.

Proof can be found in the late 1990s, when the Falcons won two division titles, made the playoffs five years running and flirted with winning the 1997 Calder Cup, before losing a seven-game semifinal to Hershey.

The late 1990s produced the best crowds in the history of Springfield hockey - better, even, than the four Calder Cup championship teams that played at the beloved Coliseum in the 1959-71 period.

A lot of factors went into those crowds, starting with whiz-bang marketing, but quality hockey helped drive the engine.

The marketing savvy is still there. What this franchise has needed has been a competitive team.

There is no guarantee a playoff spot will send teeming masses surging downtown for hockey. But it would be nice to find out how much a little success would matter.

The 2010-11 Falcons still have an uphill climb for the playoffs, but at least there's a chance.